Developers detail ambitious proposals
Q&A: Pair believe that projects will spark revitalization
Development activity is picking up on, and near, Allentown’s riverfront.
In January, The Waterfront Development Co. issued more than $60 million in bonds to start vertical construction of the first office building in the redevelopment of the former Lehigh Structural Steel site. Mark and Zachary Jaindl expect to begin building the 26-acre project’s first apartment complex and parking deck this year, with construction of another office building starting in 2022, according to project records.
February then brought news
of big plans the Manhattan Building Co. has for a number of sites south and west of The Waterfront project.
For about $2 million, developers Alex Wright and John Palumbo recently acquired the former American Atelier buildings on a long stretch of North Front Street, where they’re planning a two-phase mixeduse development project. MBC, they say, will relocate its corpo
rate headquarters from Jersey City to the complex when it’s completed.
Wright and Palumbo also obtained the rights to spearhead the second phase of the Neuweiler Brewery redevelopment project and to transform the Iron Mountain warehouse site, which sits behind the old brewery on a prime 11-acre piece of riverfront real estate.
Their affiliate company, Urban Residential Properties, recently completed a 22-unit apartment building at 114 Allen St. called Riverview Lofts, and they are working with the Allentown Parking Authority on another apartment building across Railroad Street.
Wright and Palumbo hope city officials will agree this month to rezone a broad swath of land on or near North Front Street so they can proceed with their ambitious proposals — a number of which are in the riverfront section of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone. The projects, they believe, will spur a revitalization of the city’s 1st and 6th wards and bridge the Main Street environments downtown and on the Lehigh riverfront.
Wright and Palumbo recently answered a few questions about themselves and MBC, how they ended up in Allentown, and their vision for the North Front Street corridor.
Lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Tell me about MBC’s role in helping to revitalize Hoboken and Jersey City, and the development approach of founder Sandy Weiss. Palumbo:
When I was practicing law at a big firm in New Jersey, I had the opportunity to work with a lot of developers, but Sandy was different. I have been working with Sandy for over five years and I have never heard him talk about money — not once. He only talks about doing the right thing by the city, building quality and affordable homes, engaging with the community and creating vibrant neighborhoods. That mindset has become the mantra of our company. We take a grassroots approach to development and stay hyper-focused on old-industrial areas.
We are in the final stages of completing the revitalization of the SoHo West Area, which is Jersey City’s fastest-growing neighborhood. As part of that development, we are building the city a 1.5-acre park and activating an area that was considered a “no-man’s land” just a few years ago. We are excited to take that same grassroots approach to Allentown’s riverfront.
Alex, you purchased your first Allentown property in 2011. What brought you here?
Wright: I come from very humble beginnings. My father left my mother and I when I was 2 years old and my mother raised me in the Queens projects for most of my childhood and teenage years. Growing up in a single-parent household, I was forced to become “the man of the house” at a very young age. My mother has always been my rock and motivation — I have always dreamt that I could give her a better life one day.
At the age of 15, I started working odd jobs so I could help my mother with some of the household bills. I started saving as much of that money as I could, with the hopes of one day saving enough money to purchase a property.
By the time I was 20, I was able to save around $30,000. At that time, I began visiting and studying several mid-size cities throughout the Northeast. I chose Allentown because I felt that it had a tremendous amount of untapped potential, and it was also affordable enough that I could purchase a property.
At the age of 21, I founded Urban Residential Properties and used my life savings to purchase a dilapidated building on Fifth and Gordon, in one of Allentown’s roughest neighborhoods at the time. Having no experience and little resources, I slept on the floor of that building while I scraped together every penny I had to redevelop the property. It took me three years and a lot of growing pains, but I finally got it done.
Fast forward 10 years, I am proud to say that I now own 20 buildings in Allentown and I recently completed the Riverview Lofts, which is the first major development project completed on the Allentown riverfront.
My ultimate goal is to help mentor, motivate and inspire kids who come from similar circumstances to follow the same path. Unfortunately, too many of our youth do not have proper guidance. That is why I immerse myself in the community — I want to show them that anything is possible if you work hard, keep a positive mindset and stay out of trouble.
How did you and Palumbo end up partners? Wright:
John and I met in 2015. I was working as a laborer for MBC to bring in more income so I could grow Urban Residential Properties. John was an up-and-coming real estate attorney in Jersey City and was the former captain of Temple University’s football team. Purely by chance, we ended up becoming neighbors at the Cast Iron Lofts, which MBC had recently developed.
We immediately became friends because we both shared the same passions — real estate and giving back to the community. John co-founded the Kids Dream Big Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission of inspiring local youth to chase their dreams despite any obstacles and/or adversity in their way.
I got John a meeting with Weiss to pitch the prospect of identifying projects to add to MBC’s development pipeline. Weiss agreed. After three years of working together, Weiss was impressed with our vision, work ethic and ability to execute. He offered John the role as chief legal officer/vice president of real estate development, and promoted me to director of purchasing at MBC.
What’s your perspective on the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, and how much of a factor did it play in your decision to invest more significantly here? Palumbo:
Sen. Pat Browne [a Lehigh County Republican who crafted the legislation enabling the NIZ] is a forward thinker who has a bold vision for the city and its residents. I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Browne because he not only had a bold vision, but he also had the skillset and expertise to execute on his vision. His implementation of the NIZ spurred unprecedented growth in Allentown’s urban core and is a major catalyst for Allentown’s renaissance. He cares deeply for the city and it shows in his work.
It is incredible what J.B. Reilly [president and CEO of City Center Investment Corp.] has been able to accomplish downtown since the NIZ’s inception. In many ways, I look up to J.B. and I consider him a mentor from afar. I am hopeful that we can work together to continue to revitalize Allentown by creating connectivity between downtown and the riverfront.
How many units are you proposing at the American Atelier site? Tell me more about why you think that project is a catalyst for the rest of the area redevelopment, and how Buck Boyle Park plays into your vision.
Palumbo: American Atelier is a critical piece to the revitalization of Allentown’s riverfront. They are both elongated sites which combine for a total of 870 feet of frontage on North Front Street nearly two city blocks. It is also adjacent to Gordon Street, which is a critical transit connector because it bisects the downtown and riverfront corridors. We are proposing a two-phased mixed-use development project, with the goal of activating the neighborhood and creating a safer and more vibrant community.
Buck Boyle Park is a very rare opportunity to create a worldclass riverfront park. It is critical that we engage the community to determine the needs of local area residents prior to master-planning and redeveloping Buck Boyle Park, as well as other greenspace networks along the riverfront corridor.
What ideas do you have for the redevelopment of the Neuweiler and Iron Mountain sites? Palumbo:
These sites will be master-planned based on feedback from city staff and officials as well as local area residents.
Revitalizing the Allentown riverfront is challenging enough, much less the neighborhoods between the riverfront and downtown. What are the skeptics missing? Palumbo:
I think the skepticism is completely understandable being that Allentown’s riverfront has remained blighted since the 1960s. With that said, Allentown’s riverfront has all of the bones of a world-class riverfront and we have a track record of redeveloping old industrial areas. All we ask is to be judged by our actions, not our words.
During your presentation to the Allentown Planning Commission last month, you discussed an apprenticeship program you’ve launched in partnership with YouthBuild Allentown and other area nonprofits. Tell me more about the program.
Wright: I believe there is a lack of minorities in the real estate industry and I am looking to change that — particularly in Allentown. These kids are talented, but many of them lack the proper guidance and opportunity. My belief is that a structured program, led by someone who grew up in similar circumstances, will inspire Allentown’s Youth to get more involved in real estate.
For that reason, I envisioned the URP Training Program — an on-site job training program which provides program participants the opportunity to learn all trades necessary to own and operate their own project portfolio. The goal of the URP Training Program is to provide long-term job opportunities and to encourage entrepreneurship. My believe is that the greatest gift we can provide our youth is the knowledge and expertise to provide for themselves. In other words, the ability to control their own destiny.
To date, I have worked with Allentown YouthBuild and PA CareerLink to help recruit local minority youths to participate in the program at Riverview Lofts. I am now staffing the company for program expansion and I am looking for strategic partnerships with local nonprofits such as YouthBuild and LCCC to help source local minorities who are interested in participating in the program.
Ultimately, I believe this program will create much needed opportunities and additional outlets to our youth. My hope is that program graduates will use the same or similar model to encourage other local minority youths to get involved in real estate — in essence, creating a “snowball effect” that will create hundreds of local minority jobs in Allentown over the next decade.